Emperor Penguin
The Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes Fosteri) is the largest and heaviest species of penguin. It reaches a height of 115 centimeters (around 4 feet) and a weight of around 88 pounds (40 kg). They live on the Antarctic ice cap, and are deft swimmers. These flightless birds eat on fish, squid, and other seafood. Origin Penguins originated around 71 million years ago, diverging from the albatross and the petrel's ancestors. The very first penguins resembled petrels, with short wings that let them dive 240 feet underwater. Over time, penguins became quite more adept to diving, but for that they sacrificed their ability to fly. The oldest actual penguins are dated from 62 million years ago. The Emperor Penguin along with the King Penguin belong to the oldest lineage of penguins, while the other species developed somewhat later. Characteristics Adult The adult Emperor has black feathers covering its throat, back, head, neck and the dorsal area of the flippers. Excepting for the beak and the feet, it is covered in white feathers. A small part of the neck though, is pale yellow, and the penguin's ear patches are bright yellow. The lower part of the beak can be pink, orange, or lilac, as well. Chick The baby penguins resemble the adults, but they have some gray feathers, which fall off as it is reaching maturity. The ear patch is less noticeable in younglings as they are not yellow yet Food Habits 000SQUID.jpg|Squid, One of the penguin's common food choices 000CRAB.jpg|Crab. Also eaten by emperors 000FISHY.jpg|Anctartic Silverfish. The Most common food source for emperors 000PETREL.jpg|Petrel 000SKUAS.jpg|A couple of Skuas 000PETRELEATSBABY.jpg|Petrel Feeding on a penguin egg 000PENGUINHUNTEDORCA.jpg|Orcas Hunting a very Unlucky penguin 000SEALEOPARD.jpg|Leopard Seal/Sea Leopard. They eat penguins too It has many sources of food, eating various fish, crusteaceans (crabs, lobsters...) and cephalopods (squid). The most common element of its diet is the Antarctic silverfish, followed by the glacial squid and the hooked squid. Predators Skuas and petrels often eat penguin eggs. They also feed on dead babies. Another known predator is the killer whale It is also hunted down by the leopard seal Courting and Breeding Penguins court the following way: 1. The male breathes in, and then it makes a courtship call for 1-2 seconds. 2. The male keeps making courtship calls until a female comes to him. 3. Male and female stand face-to-face, one of them extends its neck up, while the other mirrors the position. 4. After holding position 3 for several minutes, the couples return to the colony. 5. Then, one of the penguins bows to its mate, the mate mirroring it. Penguins breed once a year, though they don't always return to their last partner for breeding Taking care of the egg A penguin egg typically takes 65 days to hatch. During that time, the male penguin must warm the egg so it is ready to hatch. During this time, the colony usually waddles in groups, to keep the egg at a better temperatu re. While the males guard the eggs, the female penguins go fishing for their youngling. The information above is shown very well in cartoon movie Happy Feet. Raising the Baby The females return between the day of hatching and 10 days after. If the baby hatches early, the father feeds it a substance that is 59% protein and 28% lipid, which he produces from his esophagus. When the mothers arrive, they expel fish from their stomach to feed their child. During the next five years, baby penguins are carefully watched by the parents of the colony. After reaching the 5 years, penguins are fully mature. 000BABYJUSTHATCH.jpg|Newborn Penguin 000PENGUINBABY.jpg|Baby emperors in the colony 000PENGUINBABY2.jpg|The babies keep together to keep their temperature warm 000FEEDING.jpg|Mother feeding her baby Fun facts *The colony of penguins portrayed for Happy Feet as Mumble's home, is an emperor penguin colony. *There is no deeper-diving Bird. *They are deft swimmers, as all penguin species are. *The hunting technique done by orcas in the movie Happy Feet is actually what these whales do. *They are the tallest and heaviest species of penguins. *They belly slide from time to time. *The Emperor Penguin Is the Tallest and Heaviest Penguin *To feed the baby, the mother regurgitates a fish and "kisses" the baby More pictures 000WADDLE.jpg|Penguins waddling about 000BELLYSLIDE.jpg|Emperor belly sliding 000ENTERWATER.jpg|Penguins diving to get some fish 000SWIMMING.jpg|Flock of emperor penguins swimming 000GETOUT.jpg|A penguin jumping out of the water 000COLONY.jpg|A Colony of emperor penguins 000HAPPYFEET.jpg|Happy feet, movie which references emperor penguins Source New York Times: DNA Studies Suggest Emperor is Most Ancient Of Penguins Wikipedia, Emperor Penguin (Courting and Breeding) Category:Penguins Category:Aptenodytes